Lawsuit: Flying axe head injures woman during music performance

A flying axe head struck and injured a woman last December while she was attending a Polish musical performance in west suburban River Forest, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.

In the suit, Helen Rozanski said she was watching a performance of the Lira Ensemble on Dec. 1 when the head of an axe being used as a prop flew into the audience and struck her head. Rozanski said real axes, not decorative ones, were being used in a cultural dance. She said the tools were tossed and hit together too close to the audience in the Dominican University auditorium.

Rozanski said in the lawsuit that she was injured and suffered pain and “emotional distress” as a result of the incident, which resulted in medical bills. The lawsuit doesn’t detail the extent of her injuries, and attorney Paul M. McMahon didn’t respond to a voice mail seeking comment Wednesday evening. Rozanski’s suit in Cook County court asks for more than $50,000 in damages.

The Lira Ensemble is a Chicago-based professional group specializing in Polish music and dance, according to its website. Messages left at the group’s office and the home of its general manager weren’t returned immediately returned Wednesday.